CVE-2009-3277 in DataVault
Summary
by MITRE
DataVault.Tesla/Impl/TypeSystem/AssociationHelper.cs in datavault allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via an input string composed of an [ (open bracket) followed by many commas, related to a certain regular expression, aka a "ReDoS" vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/19/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2009-3277 represents a classic regular expression denial of service (ReDoS) flaw within the DataVault.Tesla implementation. This issue manifests in the AssociationHelper.cs file where the system processes input strings through a regular expression pattern that exhibits catastrophic backtracking behavior. The specific attack vector involves crafting an input string that begins with an opening bracket followed by an excessive number of commas, which triggers inefficient pattern matching operations that consume disproportionate CPU resources. This vulnerability falls under the broader category of CWE-1333, which specifically addresses regular expression matching issues that can lead to performance degradation and system resource exhaustion.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the regular expression engine's handling of nested quantifiers and backtracking mechanisms when processing malformed input patterns. When the system encounters an input string with multiple commas following an opening bracket, the regular expression parser enters into a state where it must explore an exponential number of possible matching paths. This exponential backtracking behavior causes the CPU utilization to spike dramatically as the system attempts to resolve the pattern matching, ultimately leading to resource exhaustion and denial of service conditions. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and requires no special privileges to exploit, making it particularly dangerous in environments where the targeted service handles untrusted input from multiple sources.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for systems relying on DataVault.Tesla for data processing and management. The denial of service impact can be severe as attackers can consume system resources to the point of complete service unavailability, potentially affecting legitimate users and business operations. The vulnerability is context-dependent, meaning that the attack effectiveness varies based on the specific input patterns and system configurations, but it remains a consistent threat whenever the vulnerable regular expression is executed. This type of vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input validation and regular expression design in security-critical applications, as it can be exploited to cause substantial operational disruption without requiring advanced technical skills.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2009-3277 should focus on both immediate defensive measures and long-term architectural improvements. The most direct approach involves modifying the vulnerable regular expression to eliminate catastrophic backtracking possibilities by using possessive quantifiers or limiting the maximum number of iterations. Additionally, implementing input length limits and character set restrictions can prevent malicious inputs from reaching the vulnerable code path. Organizations should also consider implementing rate limiting and resource monitoring to detect and prevent exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and demonstrates the importance of proper regex design as outlined in security best practices for preventing resource exhaustion attacks. Regular security testing and code reviews focusing on input validation and regular expression usage should be implemented to prevent similar issues in future development cycles.